Your Menopause: A Guide

There comes a time in life when every woman will start to question if she’s beginning to go through menopause….if that’s you, here’s a short rundown on menopause to help you plot your journey. You’ve already taken the first step by looking for more information. Acknowledge menopause, educate yourself and get prepped for what may work for you.

Check out our self-help tips to manage menopause - take a look around our website to find out what might help and what may not!

What is Menopause? 

The word menopause, comes from menses, meaning ‘monthly cycles’, and pause, meaning ‘stop’. Menopause is really just one day in a woman’s life - the day on which it’s been twelve months to the date of a woman’s last monthly period. When periods stop, a number of changes may kick in before a new normal settles in.

Why does menopause happen?

Natural menopause usually happens to women when the predetermined number of ovarian follicles that release eggs each month, are finally exhausted. As a result, levels of the hormones, oestrogen, and progesterone fall, periods become erratic and eventually stop. Certain medical treatments can cause early, or sudden menopause. Members of the trans and non-binary community can experience symptoms of menopause if hormone supplies change.

Do all women go through menopause?

Every woman will go through menopause or some form of menopause. For the majority, it will occur naturally when periods stop, and for others when ovaries are removed causing surgical, early, or premature menopause. Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is sometimes confused with premature menopause, but these conditions aren't the same. Symptoms of menopause are wide-ranging and aren’t always noticeable for up to 1 in 4. The menopause experience will be very different for everyone. Members of the trans and non-binary community can experience symptoms of menopause if hormone supplies change.

What are the characteristics of Menopause?

When our essential reproductive hormones start to run low in menopause, they can usher in a combination of physical and psychological symptoms that are different for each of us - from hot flushes, vaginal dryness, and digestive issues to mood swings, anxiety, and sleep problems.

What is the average age of menopause?

Most women will go through menopause naturally between the ages of 45 to 55, with symptoms possibly starting between 4 to 8 years before the final period. The average age to go through menopause in the UK is 51. Women of colour experience menopause around the age of 49, often with more intense & protracted symptoms (Swan Study 2022). For some, sudden menopause may be experienced much sooner as a consequence of surgery, medical treatment, or for reasons that we just don’t know.

What are the first signs and symptoms of menopause?

Changing patterns of periods can be one of the first signs of menopause, or more accurately perimenopause on the horizon, with periods becoming less or more frequent, lighter or heavier. Not feeling like your usual self with mood swings often brings feelings of low self-esteem as the impact of reduced hormones kicks in. Sleep can be disrupted and you may find yourself feeling more anxious or less in control - feelings which may be compounded by the brain fog that can creep in, affecting memory, focus and concentration.

How to handle menopause?

Recognise that menopause has a one hundred percent hit rate. Then arm yourself with the knowledge and evidence-backed information that can help you. Find out what you need to put in your menopause management toolbox. Get ahead of the curve by making tweaks or bigger changes to your diet and lifestyle. Develop those exercise and movement habits that will improve your strength, heart, and bone health, so that you’re in the best shape going into perimenopause. And, if experiencing symptoms of menopause at work, don’t be afraid to discuss this with your line manager, or HR department. Prepare yourself prior to your discussion, although you may not feel it, you are of value to your employers and they have a duty of care to look after your health and wellbeing at work.

Is there male menopause?

Men can also be affected by falling hormone levels. The word ‘andropause’ is often used to label male menopause, defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “a collection of symptoms, including fatigue and a decrease in libido, experienced by some older men and attributed to a gradual decline in testosterone levels.” Confirmed by blood tests - changes to lifestyle, improving nutrition, and reducing stress may help.

Is there a typical menopause? 

Menopause will be different for every woman as there isn’t a one size fits all experience. The nature and duration of menopause symptoms will be different for us all. Some women may have no obvious symptoms -for 25% of women, menopause will pass them by with no obvious signs - 50% will have physical & psychological symptoms of different degrees - 25% will have debilitating symptoms. 

Medical causes of menopause

Women can go into a sudden menopause and experience symptoms of menopause immediately after surgery when the uterus or both ovaries are removed, or through a slower transition period after certain medical treatments such as chemotherapy. Whatever the cause of early or sudden menopause, a woman is likely to need to supplement lost hormones earlier and for longer to manage her symptoms and protect her health and reduce the risks to heart and bone health in later life.

Thyroid vs menopause

Thyroid conditions are often diagnosed between the ages of 45 to 55, so the same average age of perimenopause and menopause. Thyroid conditions share some of the same symptoms of menopause - hot flushes, hair loss, brain fog, and fatigue - which can lead to misdiagnosis. Blood tests measuring thyroid hormone levels can confirm if it’s your thyroid or your menopause. 

And don’t assume it is always menopause

While it’s more than likely that some of the changes that come your way in terms of your physical and psychological well-being are linked to perimenopause, you should check with your GP to ensure that there isn’t another underlying cause.

What are the stages of menopause? 

Menopause is a much misused word. Each of arrive in menopause through different phases, stages routes.

Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) 

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) - is not to be confused with early, or premature menopause, although it brings many of the same symptoms. The loss of ovarian function causes your body to stop producing oestrogen, stop producing eggs and ends periods before the age of 40. POI leaves your body without hormone support for an unhealthily long period and can be a gateway for conditions such as osteoporosis.

Premature menopause 

Whether it happens naturally or because of medical or surgical treatments, when a woman has her last period under the age of 40, it is premature menopause. 

Sudden menopause

Certain medical events can catapult women into menopause without warning. Sudden menopause can be caused by a number of reasons, including chemotherapy or radiation treatments for cancer, which can cause ovarian failure, dysfunction or loss of both ovaries during procedures related to ectopic pregnancy, endometriosis, ovarian cyst removal, or ovarian cancer. Sudden menopause can occur if a woman decides to have both ovaries removed to reduce the risk of of breast or ovarian cancer if they have the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene. All scenarios can be incredibly stressful, physically and emotionally.

Early Menopause 

Early menopause happens when a woman's periods stop before the age of 45, naturally or as a result of surgical menopause. To help work out if you’re having early menopause and how to treat it, your doctor may ask if you have symptoms such as hot flushes, irregular periods, or sleep problems. Blood tests may establish if you’re in early menopause. 

Perimenopause 

Perimenopause is the critical lead-up to menopause. Changes are taking place as the body prepares for the inevitable transition. Symptoms can be experienced months, or up to 8 years, before menopause. Perimenopausal period changes can be gradual or profound!

Menopause

It is one day in your life when it’s been twelve months to the day of your last period.

Post-menopause

The day after twelve months since the last period, you are now post-menopause. Those symptoms of menopause may linger for some time to come with no known end, you may get the occasional random hot flush, or symptoms may disappear altogether. Post-menopause, you're no longer releasing eggs (ovulating). The menopausal symptoms you’ve experienced in the past may become milder or go away completely. Be aware that there are increased risks to heart, brain, and bone health which may be improved by changes to lifestyle, stress management, diet, and exercise. 

How to Help Yourself in Menopause

How you manage your menopause may change as you journey through it, some of the options include:

A Natural Approach

Many women turn to natural, alternative or holistic therapies to manage perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms. There’s a school of thought that says limited research reports that any reported benefits may be purely placebo. However, there’s also anecdotal evidence to say that treatments including acupuncture, osteopathy, massage, reflexology and psychotherapy, may help to manage menopause symptoms with little or no side effects. 

Medical help

In the UK the NICE Guidelines on Menopause outline the medical treatments for menopause available for your GP to offer. Menopausal symptoms may be relieved by replacing oestrogen and progesterone (if you have a womb) and oestrogen-only HRT for those who don’t. CBT treatment can be offered. It has been found to be effective in managing hot flushes and anxiety, a particularly useful tool for managing menopause symptoms in the workplace. Vaginal dryness can be treated with topical vaginal oestrogen, it’s water to the garden as our resident expert, women’s health physiotherapist Christien Bird says. CBT may be used alone or in combination with HRT to alleviate low mood and/or anxiety

Diet & lifestyle

Making lifestyle changes can help to reduce the impact of symptoms, especially the weight gain that may have crept up - building up movement and doing regular exercise, ensuring your diet is rich in proteins, healthy fats, whole grains and the vitamins and mineral-rich foods that help with bone, heart and brain health. Stress and tiredness may compound symptoms - resting, practising healthy sleep habits and managing stress can have therapeutic benefits. Cutting back on caffeine, and nicotine stimulants.

Head over to our diet and menopause section to find straightforward solutions to manage your symptoms that you can easily implement yourself.

Find more detailed help in our Pause More blog section, we’re here to support you!